Nicole Kidman’s Iconic Response to Tom Cruise Divorce Resurfaces Amid Keith Urban Breakup

The actress’ cheeky 2001 comment about Cruise’s height goes viral again as she faces the end of her 19-year marriage to Keith Urban.

Nicole Kidman is once again at the center of public conversation — not only for her current personal life but also for a resurfaced moment from her past.

Amid reports that the Oscar-winning actress is ending her nearly two-decade marriage to country music star Keith Urban, fans have dug up an infamous remark she made about her divorce from Tom Cruise in 2001 — a moment that has since gone viral.

The exchange occurred during Kidman’s appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman in August 2001, when she was promoting her film The Others, which was executive-produced by Cruise. At the time, her split from the Mission: Impossible star had recently made headlines.

When Letterman pressed her about the divorce, Kidman laughed nervously before finally dropping a subtle but sharp jab at her ex-husband’s height:
“Well, I can wear heels now,” she quipped, smirking as the studio audience erupted in applause. She quickly brushed it off with, “Let’s move on.”

Standing at 5’11” without heels, Kidman has long been taller than both Cruise (5’7”) and Urban (5’10”).

Reflections on Cruise and a Past Marriage in the Spotlight

Kidman and Cruise first met on the set of Days of Thunder and married in 1990. Over their decade-long union, they co-starred in films such as Far and Away and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.

Despite speculation that Kubrick’s erotic thriller strained their marriage, Kidman clarified in a 2020 interview with The New York Times:
“We were happily married through that. We would go go-kart racing after those scenes… maybe I don’t have the ability to look back and dissect it. Or I’m not willing to.”

Cruise, for his part, has praised Kidman’s talent, telling Sight & Sound that he personally suggested her for Eyes Wide Shut because “she’s a great actress.”

Kidman has reflected over the years that she was “impulsive and naive” during her early marriage, marrying Cruise at just 23. “We were in a bubble… very dependent on one another,” she said in a 2012 interview with DuJour.

In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, she added that her marriage to the Hollywood powerhouse inadvertently gave her a layer of protection in the industry. “I married for love, but being married to an extremely powerful man kept me from being sexually harassed,” she wrote in The Cut.

Moving Forward: From Urban to Now

Kidman went on to marry Urban in 2006, and together they share two daughters: Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14. The couple appeared inseparable for years, but news broke this week that their marriage has come to an end.

While Kidman navigates this new chapter, her decades-old witty remark continues to remind fans of her resilience — and her ability to handle heartbreak with grace, humor, and a touch of sharp wit.